James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (6.0)

I didn't walk away frustrated by this show, so that's got to be reason for a "thumbs up" on this episode of Impact. The cliffhanger ending for next week of how Kurt Angle and the Mafia intend on eliminating all of TNA was also a good way for them to get their heat back after taking it on the chin the previous week. It sets up the Frontline to rally it up with a potential Joe return.

The problem, though, is that with Foley and Team 3D out of the picture, it showed that the younger talent is incapable of doing anything right on their own. Petey? Incompetent. EY? Disposable. A.J.? Good in short bursts, but not good enough to get the job done with the big boys. It's a clear message that the Frontline is only as good as a part-time wrestler who's written a few books, but won't help increase PPV buys because he's not going to wrestle every month. A.J., Young, and Petey will be called on to help promote PPVs each month, but they continue to be booked as losers unless Foley is there to save them.

Morgan turning on "Abby" was inevitable, and hopefully it will fix Morgan's promo problems with a clearer direction for his character. Hopefully it will also re-open the Abyss playbook, and even though enough time has passed since the monthly TNA ritual of busting out the gimmicked thumbtacks, I'm not advocating we revisit Abyss's hardcore character. The whole point of this program should have been building up Abyss to where he can be an effective monster without depending on gimmicks. Whether TNA takes that route or goes the easy way of returning to tacks-every-month remains to be seen.

Wade Keller, Torch Editor (7.0)

Entertaining, newsworthy show. Excessive gimmick stips, but a fast-paced show with a healthy dose of in-ring action. The Morgan turn was well-done. Angle's declaration at the end was a good lead into next week. The Sting-Angle confrontation was done well as a start to Sting's full-fledged break from the group. Booker was the weak link this week, as his character has really gone off in a weird direction that seems to entertain him more than is merited.

Don West remains really strong on commentary. Lauren has become a strong interviewer, too. Abyss was strong on the mic and in his post-match tantrum, but he should be selling chairshots longer or, better yet, not taking them at all. Morgan's coming along, but he still seems to brag himself up too much. Actually, that'll work well now with him as cast appropriately as a heel. The opening X Division match was fast-paced, but frenetically numbing. I'd give MVP nods to Angle for his mic work and main event performance.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

Impact was a solid show this week that only focused on the more important angles instead of trying to fit 50 guys onto a show. It was nice to see the X Division match get more than three minutes. I'm a little disappointed we haven't seen the end of Shane Sewell as a character. I like putting Team 3D, Sting and Angle in a four-way as that'll tease Sting's turn even more, even if I think it's a bit too soon. If Petey Williams hates Scott Steiner now, why does he continue to look and dress like him?

It made sense for ODB to have to go through some of the Kongtourage before getting to Awesome Kong. ODB seems like, at least, a good short-term face challenger to Kong. However, they should've really had her beat Sojourner Bolt before Kong got to her. More Palin, really? Still, it was a queen-sized beat-down by the Beautiful People. The elimination tag was good and Petey created plenty of movement for Steiner. They went way over the top in establishing Morgan was sorry, so over the top that you could see the turn coming. The match against Beer Money was a decent brawl.

I was disappointed we didn't get to hear from AJ Styles prior to the main event. You're always going to get a solid match out of Styles and Angle, especially when it goes over the 10:00 mark. No surprise the Mafia got another win.

Curtis Shanks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

After much promise in the MEM vs. Front Line story last week, the results this time around fell flat in some ways. A.J. Styles taking a beat-down in the ring without any rescue was not a good end to the show. A week after gaining momentum, half the Front Line is out of the country while the other half are not even mentioned for some reason. The MEM won both of their matches this week. Just when it seemed the young guys were going to start looking strong, we revert back to the dominance of the Mafia.

There was some good form this story tonight. Kurt Angle's promise that next week they will start taking out people one-by-one is intriguing. The dissension between Sting and Angle was done well too. A Sting turn has long been in the works, and it was nice to see them take it a step further tonight. It remains to be seen whether Angle's promise comes to fruition or whether the dissension within the MEM causes the prediction to fall flat with the Front Line regaining the edge.

The Morgan turn on Abyss was something you could see coming a mile away. I don't have too much of a problem with it though, as it simply followed the formula outline for how a story like that should progress. The X Division title match was good...at least for the four minutes we got were. I like the MEM stuff that is presented, but there is still plenty of time in the show to make the X Division mean something again and give us some competitive matches.

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